About AIR
Doug Sawyer and Brigitte Martin Powell are the founders, of the AIR School of Breathwork. With over 70 years of experience in Rebirthing between them, Doug and Brigitte have witnessed the vast transforming results this technique can bring to people's lives, whatever their background or belief system. Their passion for the healing powers of the breath and their determination to share their experience of conscious breathing led them to create Avalon Institute of Rebirthing in 2010. This then became AIR School of Breathwork in 2020. In 2023 Doug and Brigitte handed the school over to Kerry Veitch and Jacqueline Storm, two graduates of the Air School of Breathwork. The school was one of the first to be accredited by the Global Professional Breathwork Alliance in 1993.
Kerry Veitch - Trainer
Kerry has been connected with rebirthing breathwork since 1993, with a focus now on embodiment practices such as Internal Family Systems and Eugene Gendlin's Focusing. Kerry has a trauma informed approach, and is a trainer with AIR School of Breathwork and Alchemy of Breath, teaching students to become breathwork facilitators. She loves sharing the healing power of the breath with others, by holding retreats, weekly online group sessions, 1-to-1 sessions, and especially warm water rebirthing.
Kerry also co-founded and is the festival director of the UK's first Breathwork Festival which is an annual event celebrating all kinds of breathwork. Kerry’s very grounded nature holds a very safe space for breather(s), holding them in their highest potential and being committed to the unfolding of each person’s own journey which of course is guided perfectly by our breath.
Jacqui Storm - Trainer
I love being a Breathworker in all forms and opportunities that come my way, 1 2 1 sessions, groups, workshops, online and at festivals, now teaching and co-directing AIR School of Breathwork..
It's a privilege to be working with the breath as it empowers and enables anyone to get in touch with deeper aspects of themselves, their true nature and their connections to other people. A very important part of this work is that it helps us to connect to the natural world around us, encouraging us to be mindful and sensitive to our environment..
I am trained as a chiropractor and now call myself a holistic back specialist. I'm an accredited Su Jok Acupuncturerist, I have a diploma in natural nutrition and I'm a yoga teacher and yoga therapist. In my work I combine all schools, including Breathwork. I use my long experience of treating people for various ailments and stresses in my breathwork and as a teacher.
I have also recently produced the ‘Ancient Futures’ area at Boomtown Festival, as I have a passion for sharing the spiritual world with a younger audience.
Doug Sawyer - Founder
Doug was born in Central Africa, and moved to the UK in 1961. He graduated in Maths and Computer Science at Liverpool University and went on to train as a teacher, leading to working in schools, National Health Service and later in the private sector. In 1984 Doug took a training in Rebirthing Breathwork and later a course Healing Shiatsu.
Since 1986 Doug has worked as a Rebirther and Shiatsu practitioner.
In 2010 Doug co-founded the AIR School of Breathwork to pass on his depth of knowledge to those wishing to enter the field of Complementary Medicine as a Rebirthing Breathworker. He has become a leading light in the development of the Gentle Breath.
His focus in this work has been to encourage clients to discover their own natural breath to facilitate a gentle evolution at a pace that is appropriate to each individual.
Brigitte Martin Powell - Founder
Brigitte graduated as Economist and worked for 10 years for the Swiss Government and 2 years for a Swiss NGO in Africa. She then trained as a Rebirther in Venezuela with Dr Viola Edward in 1995 and have been working with the Breath ever since.
She is a former President of the International Breathwork Foundation. As Head of the IBF_UN group she successfully led the project of bringing breathwork to the UN by applying for Special Consultative Status by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Together with her colleague Judee Gee, she also developed within the IBF a Conscious Breathing for Trauma Recovery programme especially directed at the refugees in the world.
Brigitte is a keen walker of pilgrim routes. In her new blog at brigittemartinpowell.com she shares her experience along the Via Francigena as well her journey with the breath.
AIR Co-Trainers
John Paul Mason : Post Graduate Supervision
John Paul graduated from Air in 2013 as the very first student through the Air training! He runs his Breathwork Practice from the edge of the Highlands in Scotland and has been working with clients and deep trauma for the last 9 years. He has particular expertise in working with sexual trauma and abuse, helping clients to resolve and reclaim the past so they can live fulfilling lives. He runs regular online courses as well as his own breathwork training specifically for counsellors and other therapists. For more details see www.breathingjourneys.com
“Wow. John Paul’s teaching inspires me to continue my breathwork journey. There’s a clarity and openness to him that is very comfortable to be with, a sense of acceptance of himself and others which is rare and precious. He’s an excellent teacher, inviting contribution, always reassuring, engaging and responsive. He listens, and there’s an understanding to him which is very powerful.” (from Air module 2021)
“I can honestly say that this is the first training I have come to where I can be totally myself, feel completely safe and at ease thanks to John Paul’s gentle approach. He is a great communicator and teaches in a clear, knowledgeable way making the theory easy to understand. John Paul uses and shares personal experiences in a way that is so helpful and enhances the learning experience . The experiential element was amazing personally. After completing the first weekend module I feel I have enough knowledge to begin practising what I’ve learned and has left me excited to learn more.” (student in John Paul’s own training)
Deborah Maddison
Deborah found Breathwork and TRE® after a long search, following medical retirement from the Navy in her late 20s. Anxiety, depression, and complex PTSD had felt insurmountable, and after many years exploring more cathartic therapies (an amazing teaching in gentleness being a much more effective approach!), found that the gentle, integrative approaches of TRE® and Breathwork supported her to steadily become more grounded, more embodied, and more alive.
These practices are an integral part of her personal practice to maintain her connection with herself and all of life. Vital and life-affirming practices, grounded in science, yet incorporating the art of tuning in to something deeper, TRE® and Breathwork go together so beautifully and Deborah loves to share them with others. She offers her work with love, kindness, and compassion to all those who are drawn.
Founding her therapeutic practice company, Healing Space, in 2016 she continues to grow professionally and personally through ongoing development work, believing that the deeper she goes, the deeper the space she can hold for her clients; it’s a collaborative journey to be taken together. It is work she feel honoured to be able to offer in support and service to life.
“Deborah is such a warm, inspired and knowledgeable teacher. I feel really safe and supported in her presence. The combination of passion, intuition and warmth of heart, made me feel truly seen and accepted. I could also very clearly see and sense that she walks the talk, very obvious in the inspiring results of her calm and regulated nervous system which is very refreshing and inspiring to be around. Thank you Deborah” Olivia, Bowen Practitioner, Elite Health Coach, Vitality Screening Technician and AIR Student.
If you’d like to read more about her work, you can find it here: TRE | Breathwork | Somatic | Embodiment |Bath |Online (healingspace.co)
AIR School of Breathwork at Boomtown Fair, 2019
